3 Technical Concepts Every Gamer Should Understand Before Buying Gaming Laptop
Gaming laptops have become significantly more powerful than before, especially over the last two years. The performance gap between gaming desktops and gaming laptops with similar hardware is still there, but it’s not as big as it used to be. It’s true that we can buy a gaming laptop without sacrificing too much in terms of performance this year, but caution is still highly recommended. Subtle sales strategies can lead the ill-informed gamer to make a poor choice. Therefore, understanding the following technical concepts about gaming laptops is of the utmost importance for gamers to make a well-informed choice.
iGPU: Integrated Graphics Processing Unit
Most, if not all gaming laptops come with two GPUs. There would be the iGPU, aka Integrated Graphics Processing Unit and the dGPU or Discrete Graphics Processing Unit. The iGPU is a built-in graphics processor which comes bundled in with the central processing unit (CPU). Every laptop in general must have an iGPU nowadays, but a dGPU is not as universal. Although the latest Intel Arc iGPUs are powerful enough to let users play less demanding games in low–mid settings, a laptop without a decent dGPU is not a true gaming laptop.
dGPU: Discrete Graphics Processing Unit
In gaming laptops, the iGPU handles regular tasks and the dGPU, which is a standalone graphics card, only takes over when the PC needs more graphical processing power. Gaming would be the most prominent example of such a task in this respect, but technically, that switch should also happen while using any other software that demands graphical prowess as well.
Now, the issue with a lot of gaming laptops is that even if the manufacturer claims that a certain laptop has a gaming dGPU, it might not be of much use to the gamer at all. In fact, combining an underpowered dGPU like the RTX 3050 Ti and an extremely powerful CPU like the AMD Ryzen 9 will end up bottlenecking the powerful CPU.
To truly unleash the full potential of a modern AAA game in 2022, gamers need to ensure that neither the CPU, nor the dGPU throttles one another. For example, these Lenovo Ryzen 9 gaming laptops come with a dedicated RTX 3080 inside to render the best possible visuals in any AAA game at QHD+ resolutions. You get to play at a smooth and consistent 60fps – 80fps+ even in ultra-settings.
MUX: Multiplexer Switch
On paper, the switch between an iGPU and a dGPU seems like the perfect strategy to save energy by using a less power-hungry GPU for less GPU-intensive workloads. Unfortunately, it does not work as well in application. Most laptops continuously switch between the iGPU and the dGPU, based on the system’s own understanding of what should be the best choice at any given point. This means that the dGPU will inevitably be bottlenecked by the iGPU to at least some extent. Even in the best integrated systems, some renders from the dGPU will be downscaled automatically into something that the iGPU can handle during a switch over. The addition of a multiplexer switch, aka MUX switch solves this issue once and for all.
It’s a dedicated microchip that allows users to choose which of the two GPUs will be used at any given time. Gamers generally use the multiplexer switch to disable a laptop’s iGPU before gaming to see a guaranteed boost in performance (main/primary laptop display). In order for a user to toggle the MUX switch on/off via a software interface, the chip must be present on the laptop’s motherboard.
Up and until late 2021, most laptop manufacturers did not include a MUX switch in their respective gaming laptops, so that was not even an option, unfortunately. In 2022, however, that’s a feature which gamers should definitely expect to see in their new laptop. It makes a huge difference in gaming performance, unless you are using an external display that’s directly connected to the laptop’s secondary GPU via HDMI/DisplayPort.
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